Strete Gate Beach, Slapton

It was another scorcher of a day - we decided to go to the beach today to cool off and when we left home at 9.45am it was already 28C. A friend recommended Street Gate Beach as he said we were likely to get parking there, and thankfully we did. The beach was amazing - not at all crowded, the water was as calm as a millpond and there was a heat haze in the air so I tried a few minimalist photos of the blues. 

Xena has never swum before, she is nervous to get in the water but today she was chasing her ball which kept going in the water and before she knew it she was in up to her shoulders and with a gentle 'push' from Gavin she was in and swimming. There were no waves so it was like swimming in a swimming pool. After the swim we went to the beach kiosk which was such a delight as they were serving iced coffees and had a big choice of non dairy milks and gluten free cakes and food. I enjoyed an iced coffee with oat milk it was so refreshing. Xena got a doggy ice cream as a reward for swimming!

Adam, Pip and Tommy arrived later (as Adam was working) and when they swam Xena went in again. My main image is the view of the beach from the road above as we approached it, the extras are 1. the calm water with the very uncrowded beach 2. Tommy and Xena swimming 3. a minimalist image 4. Adam and Pip swimming

It was such a terrific beach that we plan to go back tomorrow. We left about lunch time, came home for lunch and then Gavin and I went into Dartmouth to look at the shops and do a little bit of retail therapy. The good news is that Luke joined us this afternoon, he is now out of his 10 day isolation from Covid, he tested negative yesterday and he was cleared by Track and Trace last night so Gavin went to fetch him from Totnes station - it was an easy 2 hour 40 minute direct train journey for Luke from London. Sadly he only has 2 nights here and it is unfortunate that he was not able to join us before, as he has missed out on all our family holidays lately, he has always been working or studying and now he was ill (not very ill as he had his first vaccine and was due to get his second when he got ill, so it was just like a cold).